Atheism vs Theism free essay sample

The problem Atheists have with Theists and the premise of God, a Being who is all good, omniscient, omnipotent and eternal, is that they believe that since science and the world cannot prove that such a being exists and since life seems to sustain itself without any external help, then this Being probably does not exists nor can this Being ever be proven to exist. This method of thinking stems directly from a belief, not that science is god, but more that mankind is a self-sufficient, self-reliant being along with the philosophy of materialism and evolution which denies the possibility of soul or the immaterial. This resulted in the hijacking of science to prove what materialists already believed, that everything is relative and truth exists only if it can be proven by science. This is, as a materialist already knows, an issue that can only relate to the corporeal. The conflict that occurs is many theists belief that there is a truth and it can be known by reason which includes science but also can be discovered using every aspect of the human person. We will write a custom essay sample on Atheism vs Theism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This includes the spiritual, corporeal, and even the emotive aspect of the man. The another debate in this issue pits the clinging to classical thought by the theists against claim that classical thought is unsubstantiated, old fashioned and that only modern thought is relevant because it is the most progressive. So there seems to be an intrinsic impossibility for a materialist atheist to believe in God because it is diametrically opposed to the dogmatic belief in science, materialism, and man as a creature of nature not of the immaterial. The Atheists’ beliefs The atheists’ core beliefs have already been brought to attention but in order for a complete argument to take place, a simple overview is not sufficient, so a more in depth analysis is needed to better understand this ideological battle. To be fair to atheists, there is a diversity of ideas and beliefs why God cannot exist. Some of these reasons behind this belief can be simple and unfounded arguments or elaborate systems which argue God out of the picture. While it would be easy to discredit and disprove the simple arguments, such as â€Å"I don’t see God’s involvement in the world and it seems like the world functions on its own, therefore, God doesn’t exist,† there are plenty of arguments that have shown this type of thinking as shallow and wrong. The more significant arguments are the views of atheism include a mechanistic view of the world along with a materialist understanding of the operations of the world. This is the view, according to Edward Feser, that most serious atheists hold and is responsible for the understanding that God does not exist in the world, that the world is self sufficient and that man is simple a creature of evolution. Of course what follows from this belief is the understanding that man is not bound to anything spiritual or moral since there is no such thing as morals since that entails something immaterial. They believe instead that morality is either a construct of the mind, which is influenced by Kant, or that morality is the conditioning of the culture to make man feel guilty, which is influenced by Nietzsche. Feser points to the origin of this mode of thinking, explaining that it stems from the removal of the formal and final cause of things of Aristotle’s natural science in which all things have a material, efficient, formal and final cause. When the formal and final cause is removed then people don’t have a final end other than survival nor does anything have a nature or is there a correct form. What this does is it removes the importance of religion. When there is no afterlife or purpose of a person to be moral then there is no need for God or religion. Feser also claims that once formal and final causes were removed, and then it paved the way to materialism, which, if there is a formal or final cause of things, is the only reasonable understanding of the world. Materialism is the belief that everything can be reduced to their material function and there is nothing outside of empirical evidence. There means there is no soul or spiritual aspect of a human person. People are given the impression that science can explain everything, but Feser explains that â€Å"For the reason science has â€Å"explained† almost everything other than the mind is precisely because everything that doesn’t fit the mechanistic model has been swept under the rug of the mind, treated as a mere projection. † The very essence of today’s atheism is that the world can be explained and if there is something that cannot be explained then they say that science will explain it after we have a better understanding of the object in question. This belief that science can and will explain everything is held so strongly that atheists become as Feser describes them, â€Å"the very thing they argue against† namely, dogmatic and irrational. This is a result of the belief that there is no truth. Science, although it has improved the quality of life and has led to many discoveries, is to blame for a particular mentality that is felt all over the world, that of progress. Along with thinkers like Hegel, who believe that all of history is progress and that everything has been leading up to our point in time today, the mentality within science is that progress is always good. This is another assumption held by atheists in that they believe that science is progress and if there is progress then the time this progress was a lesser time and held views that were lesser and imperfect. So from this understanding, Christianity and religion in general is old fashioned and wrong, while science is right and the only truth that is, if there can even be truth. It is science that focuses on the efficient and material causes of things. In other words, it is science that ignores formal or final causes. Because of this belief it makes the place of religion irrelevant. Materialist atheists use science, the study of material objects with their molecular makeup and the like and use what we have discovered by means of science to explain questions of metaphysical nature. Feser explains that â€Å"empirical science of its very nature cannot give us the full story about these matters; but metaphysics just is the rational investigation if them. † Also on the same topic of the separation between religion and science, Stephen Jay Gould explains that â€Å"the net of science covers the empirical realm: what he universe is made of and why does it work this way. The net of religion extends over question of moral meaning and value. † (Gould p. 522) A conflict has occurred however because as was mentioned previously, when the final and formal cause is removed, then the nature’s of things don’t exist but so does purpose and without purpose then going beyond the what is impossible. Atheists hold central to their beliefs that there is nothing beyond this world and that all operations of the world are contained within it. Richard Dawkins believes rather that our â€Å"morality† has been changing and that the Old Testament God is â€Å"will not be adopted as a literal role model by anybody you or I would wish to know. † He means that social norms have been changing and that our morality can be explained through science of culture and society, not dependent on God or scripture. Dawkins continues saying that other aspects of the Christian religion are in conflict with science. He claims that the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven is false and assumes that heaven is a â€Å"physical reality – how else could the physical body of a woman go there? Dawkins brings this up to make the point that everything is under the realm of science; he even goes as far as to say that the â€Å"sudden injection if an immortal soul in the time-line is an anti-evolutionary intrusion into the domain of science. Dawkins’ point is that there is not a separation of religion and science; metaphysical claims are even under the claims of science. In the case of the mind, Dawkins and others believe it can be explained. And even though there is religion, it is a simple social construct to control the ignorant. Their truth is that science can explain everything even prove that a metaphysical world cannot exist. The Theist’s Side The theists fall back on something a little different, tradition. Now contrary to atheist’s beliefs, theism does use reason to justify keep God in the discussion but also to keep other metaphysical claims. Christianity has an understanding that the world is a transitory with God as its creator. From an understanding that God is creator, it is reasonable to expect everything in nature to abide by a law, to be ordered and have the ability to be understood. Also from the tradition of the philosophers of history, this belief has been thought over and many rational arguments have been made in favor of theism. These arguments even came from antiquity. Plato and Aristotle gave many arguments defending the immaterial. Both philosophers believed that the soul was immaterial and that all life had a soul or rather, the soul was the life giving principle. Now along with the idea of the soul, Aristotle provides an in depth account of the four causes mentioned earlier, namely material, efficient, formal, and final. This encompasses all aspects of substances. This provided a very thorough description of life. From the four causes, it gave reason to the nature of things and that there is a definite correct way of acting for any particular thing. So with the four causes, especially the formal and final cause, man now has a purpose and a proper way of acting. In other words, man then must have a morality it must adhere to. This morality has been lived out by people before philosophy influenced people; it is pre-science and therefore more â€Å"natural† to man. The fact that it is backed up by metaphysical observations only strengthens the argument for theists. Natural science, the understanding of the natural world is something lost upon atheists. It is essential to the proper understanding of this life to understand that there are, in fact, natures. As Feser puts it, â€Å"admit formal and final causes into the world and at once you are stuck –with God, the soul, and natural law. † This natural law is also vital to an understanding of life on earth as well as an understanding of the human person. While atheists struggle with an understanding of how the mind works (not the brain), have a very weak argument for morality, and have no argument for why anyone should have rights or respect shown to anyone, the theists however, have strong, well founded arguments for these very things which come natural to everyone. A theist understands natural law as participating in eternal law, this gives natural law authority. It is something which all men must abide by. Natural law is the respect and dignity which all men are due. It is what assures man that he shouldn’t kill one another. Robert Adams even uses this principle of the morality from natural law as a proof of God’s existence; he claims that â€Å"the moral rightness and wrongness consist in agreement and disagreement, respectively, with the will or commands of a loving God. † There are many laws within natural law that when broken are recognized as going against natural order, granting men the authority under God to rebel against whomever or whatever threatens to take away the privileges given by natural law. It is how we understand concepts of justice. This follows from the fact that God is just and any disobedience of this law is seen as unjust. God is the foundation of morality; natural law is the foundation of morality. Along with natural law, the theists also are able to give a better account of the mind. It is held that the mind is immaterial; it is directly tied to the soul. When the body dies, the soul continues on and we retain our â€Å"mind† because we retain rationality in the afterlife. In the same way Aristotle believed that the soul is the life giving aspect to all creatures and plants, so the human soul is also responsible for the mind and the intellect. Otherwise if the materialist view was to be accepted, we would have a similar thought process to any other intelligent creature without rationality. The mind is also responsible for the specific function of contemplation. No animal, even with a larger, more advanced brain would ever be able to understand concepts such as justice, peace, and generosity, it must be related to the form that humans have and the soul which humans have been given. This goes so beyond any physical aspect of our bodies that to confine the mind to ability within the brain seems foolish. Even the ability to learn concepts is a mystery. J. J. Haldane provides an analysis of the topic and explains that some concepts, especially early on, must be taught. Someone must have taught concepts to people. The example he gives is the example of a cat. One might see a cat and understand the concept of cat, but what if one had never seen a cat? It would be necessary to explain the concept of cat to that person, after which the person would be able to recognize a cat if he saw one. The same applies to all concepts. Now the tricky part is, if evolution is taken back to the origin of man or even if God created man, then how did man learn all of these concepts? Haldane’s solution to the question is that God must have been responsible, regardless of whether evolution is responsible for man or not. The reasoning behind this is that God must have taught the 1st man all these concepts which he could then pass down to his children. While this explanation requires an open mindedness of the listener, it is very plausible and would account for many of the questions that atheists still deal with today. So Who’s Right? So while some might claim that there isn’t even a right answer and that choosing to be an atheist or theist is just personal preference. However, according to the theists, there is truth and there is a right answer. As for atheists, while some of their positions were explained, they still have gaps within their arguments. When confronted with these gaps, it seems that atheists are unable to provide an answer other than resorting to science which asks how and why, but not â€Å"that† something is. As mentioned earlier, there is the question of morality and why people act as they do. Even Atheists believe in some sort of morality even they do not wish to call it by its name. Feser cleverly points out that â€Å"An atheist or naturalist can believe in morality – that is a psychological fact – but he cannot have a rational justification for his belief – that is a philosophical fact. † It is impossible to limit the natural drive for morality in people. Again, â€Å"where morality was concerned, Kant’s aim was to show that there is just something in the nature of reason itself that requires that we be moral. † This seems oolish to believe that something material explains something as complicated as human emotions and the free will to do good or bad and the consequences it has on the person itself. Feser points out that the understanding of modern atheists of morality is a conditioning itself, all of modern philosophy tries to prove that everything can be contained by science, even the topic of morality. He is convinced that this is due to a rejection of formal and final causes. He explains that â€Å"the bottom line is that by abandoning formal and final causes, modern philosophy necessarily denied itself any objective basis for morality. This points to how modern philosophy has gotten to this point and it is simply that modern philosophers have ignored the question of whether there are formal and final causes and have considered the topic as irrelevant. What this means however that â€Å"First, the modern â€Å"mechanistic understanding of the natural world has led to problems, paradoxes, and absurdities that are far more egregious than anything the scholastics were ever accused of. Second, Aristotelian formal and final causes are simply unavoidable if we are to make sense of modern science and reason themselves. Now as has been shown, theists hold on the Aristotelian views of formal and final causes not only does it make sense, but it provides a foundation for a host of other arguments. These arguments cannot be explained away by science, Feser points out why, which is because â€Å"empirical science of its very nature cannot give us the full story about these matters; but metaphysics just is the rational investigation of them. † to make a further point, as has been suggested, it seems that an atheist’s account of the mind is also insufficient as it is a series of poor and confusing arguments which try to prove the existence of mind within a person. Feser claims that the reason for the misunderstanding of the mind by atheists is that it is â€Å"the denial of final causes that most clearly poses an absolutely insurmountable obstacle to any attempt to explain the mind in purely material terms. † What this means is that with this understanding of purpose for the human person beyond survival, then there is new meaning to a person’s life and that each person should and ought to work to fulfill this purpose. If not, then it is impossible to explain the mind sufficiently. The reason for intellect, the purpose of the mind, is contemplation but also to use reason to become virtuous. Once morality is believed to exist, then it follows that morality should be followed but the only way to do that is to form habits of virtue, which is only possible through the mind. It also hints at the soul, which is also taken to exist in that it is the principle of life but more specifically, nothing corporeal could be the principle of life or â€Å"every body would be a living thing. † More specifically, Aquinas explains that since the intellect has an operation apart from the body â€Å"per se† then we must conclude, therefore, that the  human soul, which is called the  intellect  or the  mind, is something incorporeal and subsistent. So according to Feser, the only way to solve this problem that the atheist’s have of the mind, is to â€Å"return to the Aristotelian –Thomistic conception of the soul as the form of the body, having certain immaterial operations but nevertheless â€Å"interacting with the material world as formal rather than efficient cause. † Feser also hints at there being a need to be intellectually honest about some of these arguments. Since many Atheists have ignored the arguments or Aristotle and Aquinas, Feser has been calling for them to actually refute them and that instead of wanting something to be true and trying to argue for it, to instead accept truth as an objective reality and something to be sought after. The point that Feser wants to make is not to â€Å"determine whether this project was good or bad, but rather to emphasize that to a very great extent it was a desire to further the project, and not an actual refutation of Aristotle, that moved modern thinkers away from his metaphysics. The agenda determined the arguments rather than the other way around. This is ultimately the solution to the question to atheism because it seems as though Atheism is artificial, Denys Turner implies that atheism has to be ‘worked at or practiced in his article â€Å"How to be an Atheist. † It is the mentality of trying to convince others that your reality is truth instead of being receptive to truth as the classical and medieval philosophers were.

Spectrophotometer Lab Report Essays

Spectrophotometer Lab Report Essays Spectrophotometer Lab Report Paper Spectrophotometer Lab Report Paper 2014). Thus stockroom c, based on this concept of spectrophotometer, peak absorbency was found to be at Mann (table. ). Thus this particular wavelength was chosen to measure the concentration of the unknown city c sample. For the second phase of the lab, it illustrated the direct association between the concentration of particles in a solution and the amount of light that could pass through. This is in accordance to Beers Law which states that the absorbency of a species at a particular wavelength of electromagnetic radiation, is proportional to the concentration of the absorbing species(F. Schneider. ,2013) From figure 2 above, the graph shows a straight line, which illustrates the direct proportionality f concentration vs.. Absorbency, whereby increasing concentration of analyze also increases its absorbency. Thus the sample obeys the Beer-Lambert Law. For the third phase of the lab, applying the principles of Beers Law and the concept of spectrophotometer.

How low self esteem affects adolescents and substance abuse Essay

How low self esteem affects adolescents and substance abuse - Essay Example When someone is unable to accomplish the assignment, he might develop a low self-esteem when discouraged about his failure. Because of this, it is essential to support a person whenever he fails an assignment. This process encourages him to work even harder and do things in a different way that can help him succeed. There are several causes of low self-esteem. Discouragement or disapproving figures often cause a person to feel worthless and useless. During this time, a person might feel valueless because of his negative feelings towards himself. It often causes people to use drugs to calm their nerves (Sorensen, 2006). Such people often feel valueless and useless to the society. This situation encourages them to abuse drugs, which leads to other health defects. Because of this, it is vital to help those feeling discouraged, feel useful to both themselves and the society. Usage of drugs can also cause a person to resort to suicide attempts on his life. Lack of attention is another factor that causes a person to develop a low self-esteem. It is because of the need to want more, but there is no one available to give. Some people might want more than they have, but lack the right person to encourage them to work hard, or ascend to their request. This situation might lead to substance abuse in order to seek attention. Substance abuse can lead to stigmatization, which can lead to suicidal attempts (Sorensen, 2006). Lack of attention often makes a person feel alone and unwanted in the society. It is because they often feel forgotten and unrecognized. They often feel as if they need to apologize to the society for existing. It often encourages them to commit suicide and end their existence. They might also resort to substance abuse simply because of their unwanted feeling. When children are born, their parents are often their role models. This process makes parents responsible for all their

An Important Place in My Life Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

An Important Place in My Life - Assignment Example I like this place because of its eccentric nature and the representation of an undying love that was shown by the Emperor. It is evident that the Emperor wanted to honor his three wives to show the world the importance of marriage (DuTemple, 2003). Although it is located in India, the structure comprises of Persian and Mughal architectural drawings. The building is in the shape a white marble tomb with other amazing features that represent the theme of love. Situated in a cool environment where tourists can easily access it without causing congestion within the city, the place registers many visitors each year. The atmosphere is serene and police officers ensure people do not cause damage to the features in the tomb (Arnold, Comora & Bhushan, 2007). As a result, Taj Mahal is an international heritage that deserves the respect and admiration of all people across the world. The symbolic design and nature of the building manifest the love message that Shah wanted to convey through architecture. Similarly, the white marbles normally change color because of the sunlight or moonlight rays that strike the surface. This marvelous site is a symbol of India’s history that made the construction to receive an honor of being among the world heritage locations. I still appreciate the marble domes and the golden finials around the tombs. The notion of combining different art elements from the Indian and Persian inspirations makes the tombs to have a distinct feature (Arnold, Comora & Bhushan, 2007). The other aspect that makes Taj Mahal my favorite place is that love inspires people to appreciate their partners. The place attracts newly married couples who go there for honeymoon sessions. The moments and stories about that place inspire people to appreciate their loved ones by being creative when presenting their gifts to the partners (DuTemple, 2003).  

Interaction during a Supervisory Episode Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Interaction during a Supervisory Episode - Essay Example The clinical setting is made up of numerous fields, all of which work to the best interest of the patients or clients. The dental practice setting is essentially one of these fields. Newly qualified dentists (foundation dentists) are subjected to the supervision of the trainers (supervisors) in order to enhance their knowledge, skills, and practice experience. The interaction between trainers and trainees is designed to mentor and coach the trainees, thus improving their ways of addressing and countering practice-related challenges. In the dental practice setting, extraction of tooth is a normal activity. It is one of the many ways through patients improve their dental health. After a close examination by the dentist, the patient is advised accordingly. There are different procedures designed to promote dental health, tooth extraction included. Once a dentist examines the patient’s tooth, the dentist advises the patient on what to do. For deteriorated tooth conditions, the pat ient could be advised to undergo tooth extraction. Both experienced and foundation dentists can perform this procedure. Where a trainer-trainee interaction is in progress, the foundation dentists are expected to undertake the task under the supervision of the trainer. This is done to enhance practice experience and effectiveness of handling dental-related tasks or procedures by the foundation dentist. In my line of supervision, this is exactly what unfolds in the dental practice unit. In most cases, a foundation dentist.

Maggi Brand Extension And Repositioning

Maggi Brand Extension And Repositioning This research paper deals with the study of Maggi brand which made its footprint in India in the year 1983. Maggi is a brand originated in India by Nestle India Limited. It has over the years become synonymous with noodles. This research paper tries to find out the new areas and the market where Maggi can enter. Also, Maggi has always tried to play on the platform of a Healthy Product. This paper analyses its success and the gives a picture of Maggi as in the eyes of the consumer. The introduction provides the company background, operational other important information provided by the company which would assist in taking the decision for the right brand extension strategy for Maggi. The industrial revolution in Switzerland in the late 1800s created factory jobs for women, who were therefore left with very little time to prepare meals. This wide spread problem grew to be an object of intense study by the Swiss Public Welfare Society. As a part of its activities, the Society asked Julius Maggi miller to create a vegetable food product that would be quick to prepare and easy to digest. Born on October 9, 1846 in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, Julius Michael Johannes Maggi was the oldest son of an immigrant from Italy who took Swiss citizenship. Julius Maggi became a miller and took on the reputation as an inventive and capable businessman. In 1863, Julius Maggi came up with a formula to bring added taste to meals. Soon after he was commissioned by the Swiss Public Welfare Society, he came up with two instant pea soups and a bean soup the first launch of the Maggi brand of instant foods in 1882 83. Towards the end of the century, Maggi Company was producing not just po wdered soups, but bouillon cubes, sauces and other flavorings. The Maggi Company merged with Nestlà © in 1947. Today, Maggi is a leading culinary brand and part of the NESTLÉ family of fine foods and beverages. Under the Maggi brand, which is today known worldwide for quality and innovation, Nestle offers a whole range of products, such as packaged soups, frozen meals, prepared sauces and flavorings. MAGGI BRAND IN INDIA Maggi Comes to India teething troubles Maggi noodles was launched in India in the early1980s. Carlo M. Donati, the present Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India Ltd, brought the instant noodle brand to India during his short stint here in the early eighties. At that time, there was no direct competition. The first competition came from the ready-to-eat snack segment which included snacks like samosas, biscuits or maybe peanuts, that were usually the bought out type. The second competition came from the homemade snacks like pakoras or sandwiches. So there were no specific buy and make snack! Moreover both competitors had certain drawbacks in comparison. Snacks like samosas are usually bought out, and outside food is generally considered unhygienic and unhealthy. The other competitor, homemade snacks overcame both these problems but had the disadvantage of extended preparation time at home. Maggi was positioned as the only hygienic homemade snack! Despite this, Nestlà © face d difficulties with their sales after the initial phase. The reason being, the positioning of the product with the wrong target group. Nestle had positioned Maggi as a convenience food product aimed at the target group of working women who hardly found any time for cooking. Unfortunately this could not hold the product for very long. In the course of many market researches and surveys, the firm found that children were the biggest consumers of Maggi noodles. Quickly they repositioned it towards the kids segment with various tools of sales promotion like color pencils, sketch pens, fun books, Maggi clubs which worked wonders for the brand. Why the specific Brand positioning? Maggi was positioned as 2-minute noodles with a punch line that said Fast to cook! Good to eat! And this gave the implied understanding to the consumer that it was a between meals snack. The company could have easily positioned the product as a meal, either lunch or dinner. But, it chose not to do so, because the Indian consumer mindset did not accept anything other than rice or roti as a meal. Hence trying to substitute it with noodles would have been futile. The firm did not position it as a ready-to-eat meal either, as the housewife prefers to make a meal for her kids rather than buy it for them. And if she can make it in two minutes with very little effort, then obviously its a hit with her! Whats more, if kids also love the taste, the product is as good as sold! So the 2-minute funda coupled with the yummy taste worked! BRAND STORY Launched in 5 flavors initially Masala, chicken, Capsicum, sweet sour, and Lasagna Maggi had to fight hard to be accepted by Indian consumers with their hard-to-change eating habits. The packaged food market was very small at this time, Nestle had to promote noodles as a concept, before it could promote Maggi as a brand. It therefore devised a two-pronged strategy to attract mothers on the convenience plank and lure kids on the fun plank. Gradually, the market for instant noodles began to grow. The company also decided to focus on promotions to increase the brand awareness. In the initial years, Nestle promotional activities for Maggi included schemes offering gifts (such as toys and utensils) in return for empty noodles pack. According to analysts, the focus on promotion turned out to be the single largest factor responsible for Maggis rapid acceptance. Nestlà ©s managers utilized promotions as measured to meet their sales target. Gradually, sales promotion became a crutch for Maggi noodles sales. Later many of the Maggis extensions also made considerable use of promotional schemes. The focus of all Maggis extensions was more on below the line activities rather than direct communication. In addition to promotional activities, Maggi associated itself with main stream television programs and advertised heavily on kids program and channels. After its advertisements with taglines like mummi bhookh lagi hai, bas do minute and fast to cook good to eat Maggis popularity became highly attributed to its extremely high appeal to children. As a result, Maggis annual growth reportedly touched 15% during its initial years. Maggis Brand Extension In 1998, Nestle launched Maggis first brand extension, Maggi soup. At this stage, there was no organized packaged soup market in India. Nestle planned to create a market for packaged soup as it felt the category had a lot of potential. However, according to analyst, the company had introduced soups only to cash in on the Maggis brand name, and was never very serious about the segment. In 1993, Sweet Maggi, the first variant of Maggi noodles was launched. The company supported the launch with a huge advertisement outlay that amounted to 75% of the total yearly expenditure on the Maggi brand. However, the product failed to generate the desired sales volume and Nestle was forced to withdraw it. At the end of the year, Maggi noodles was generating sales volume of around 5000 tons and remained a loss making proposition for Nestle. To boost sales, Nestle decided to reduce the price of Maggi noodles. This was made possible by using thinner and cheaper packaging material, the company also introduced money saver multi packs in the form of 2-in-1 pack and 4-in-1 packs. As a result volume increases phenomenally to 9700 tonnes in 1994 and further to 13000 tonnes in 1995. Maggis euphoria was, however, short lived, as sales stagnated in 1995 at the previous years level. With soup business being threatened by a new entrant Knorr soups launched in 1995, offering 10 flavors against Maggis 4 the company started rethinking its strategies towards the soup market. In order to stretch Maggis brand to include Indian ethenic foods the company tied up with a Pune based Chordia foods to launch pickles under the year 1995. The company also tied up with Indian foods fermentation (IFF), a Chennai based Food Company to market popular south Indian food preparation such as sambher, dosa, vada and spices in consumer packs in Dec 1995. The company reportedly saw a lot of untapped potential in the market for ready to use south Indian market. In 1996, products from these two ventures received lukewarm response from the market; sales were rather poor in the regions in which they were launched. Analysts attributed the failure of these Maggi extensions to the fact that Nestlà © seemed to be particularly bad at dealing with traditional Indian product categories. Maggi noodles performed badly in 1996. Despite slow sales in the previous two years, Nestlà © had set a sales target of 25,000 tonnes for the year. However, Maggi couldnt cross even 14,000 tonnes. Adding to the company woes was the failure of Maggi Tonites Special, a range of cooking sauces aimed at providing restaurant-like-taste to food cooked at home. The range included offerings such as Butter Chicken gravy and tomato sauce for pizzas. Understanding these failures, and buoyed by the fact that the Maggi brand finally broke even in 1997, Nestlà © continued to explore new options for leveraging on the brand equity of Maggi noodles. The company realized that the kids who had grown up on Maggi noodles had become teenagers by the late 1990s. As they associated the product with their childhood, they seemed to be moving away from it. To lure back these customers and to explore new product avenues, Nestlà © launched Maggi Macaroni in July 1997. According to analysts, Maggi Macaroni was launched partly to deal with the growing popularity of competing noodles brand Top Ramen. Maggi Macaroni was made available in three flavors, Tomato, Chicken, and Masala. The company expected to repeat the success of Maggi noodles with Maggi Macaroni. As with most of its product launches, Maggi Macaronis launch was backed by a multi-media advertisement campaign including radio, television, outdoors and print media. The products pricing, however, proved to be a major hurdle. A 75-gm Maggi Macaroni pack was priced at Rs 11, while a 100-gm noodles pack was available at Rs 9. According to analysts, Nestlà © failed to justify this price-value anomaly to customers, who failed to see any noted value addition in Maggi Macaroni (packaging and flavor variants were similar to those of Maggi noodles). In addition, customers failed to see any significant difference between Maggi Macaroni and the much cheaper macaroni that was sold by the unorganized sector players. The biggest problem however was the taste of the new product. Since macaroni is thicker than noodles, Maggi Macaroni did not absorb the tastemaker well and consequently did not taste very good. The interest generated by the novelty of the product soon died out and sales began tapering off. Eventually, Nestlà © had to withdraw Maggi Macaroni completely from the market. Nestlà © had not even recovered from Macaronis dismal performance, when it learnt to its horror that Knorr had dethroned Maggi as the leader in the soup segment (end of 1997). The only saving grace for Maggi seemed to its ketchups and sauces, which were turning out to the rare successful extensions of Maggi. These products were supported by a popular advertisement campaign for the Maggi Hot Sweet sauce brand. These humorous advertisements, featuring actors Pankaj Kapoor and Javed Jafri, used the tagline, Its different. However, during mid-1997, HUL began promoting its Kissan range of sauces aggressively and launched various innovative variants in the category. Nestlà © responded with a higher thrust on advertising and different size packs at different price points. Though Kissan gained market share over the next few years, Maggi was able to hold on to its own market share. Meanwhile the operational costs of Maggi noodles had increased considerably, forcing the company to increase the retail price. By early 1997, the price of a single pack had reached Rs 10. Volumes were still languishing between 13,000-14,000 tonnes. Pricing and Product Development It was at this point in time that Nestlà © decided to change the formulation of Maggi noodles. The purpose was not only to infuse fresh life into the brand, but also to save money through this new formulation. The company used new noodle-processing technology, so that it could air-dry instead of oil-fry the noodles. The tastemakers manufacturing process was also altered. As a result of the above initiatives, costs reportedly came down by 12-14%. To cook the new product, consumers had to add two cups of water instead of one-and-a-half cups. The taste of the noodles was significantly different from what it used to be. The customer backlash that followed the launch of the new noodles took Nestlà © by surprise. With volumes declining and customer complaints increasing, the company began to work on plans to relaunch old Maggi to win back customers. In addition, in 1998, Nestlà © began working out a strategy to regain Maggis position in the soup segment. To counter the Knorr threat, the company relaunched Maggi soups under the Maggi Rich brand in May 1998. The soups were not only thicker in consistency than those produced earlier, the pricing was also kept competitive and the packaging was made much more attractive. However, Knorr took Nestlà © by surprise by launching one-serving soup sachets priced as low as Rs 4. HLL too launched two-serving sachets of Kissan soup priced at Rs 7. As Maggi did not have any offerings in this price-range, it lost a huge portion of its market share to Knorr. The relaunch prompted market observers to compare Nestlà ©s move with US soft drinks major Coca-Colas New Coke fiasco. However, the company disagreed, Its a hard-5 nosed strategy, that mixes nostalgia with the consumers voiced preference for the product it has been bred and rought up on. The reintroduction is Nestlà ©s acknowledgement of the loyalty of the Indian mother and the child to the original product. By May 1999, Nestlà ©s decision to bring back the old Maggi seemed to have paid off. Two months after the relaunch, the monthly average sales of Maggi noodles n the northern region rose 50% in comparison to the previous year. In July 1999, Maggi the brand, was promoted as the biggest brand in Nestlà ©s portfolio of brands in India, overtaking brands such as Nestum and Cerelac. Nestlà © believed that Maggi had immense potential as it was a very flexible brand under which regional variants could be introduced to meet various market needs. Company sources claimed that with reas onable price points and innovative products, Maggi could emerge as a top brand and a major growth driver for the company. To further support the brand, Nestlà © carried out various promotional activities as well. These included the August 1999 Fun-Dooz campaign and Jungle Jackpot campaigns. 6 As a result of the above initiatives, Nestlà © claimed to have cornered an 81% market share of the 20,000 tonnes noodles market by the end of 1999. Nestlà © sources claimed that Maggi noodles outsold the competition four times over and that more than four Maggi noodle cakes were consumed every second in the country. PRODUCT VARIENTS The product mix of Maggi is divided into various categories defined below. The company has launched various products under each category as mentioned below. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY OBJECTIVES à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ To understand the influence of Maggi as a brand on consumers mind set. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ Sources of Brand equity of Maggi like Brand awareness, Brand image, Brand association, Brand recall à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ To understand the Brand performance of Maggi products. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ To understand Brand Imagery, Brand Quality perceived by customers, Brand credibility, consideration, superiority and feelings. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ Brand Extension of Maggi in terms of product diversity. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ Analyse the repositioning of Maggi brand as a Healthy product and the consumers perseverance towards the same. RESEARCH PLAN Research Design: The research will be carried out in the form of a survey which will be done in areas near to Delhi (NCR region). The population has been segmented on the basis of salary Group and Age Group. Sample Design: The target population for our study is households. The sample will be selected by a simple random sampling method . Sample Size: The sampling unit is 150 which are divided as follows: |Number of respondents |150 | |Age-group |10 45 | |Monthly Household Income |25000 75000 INR | |Survey Locations |Delhi, Faridabad,Gurgoan,Noida,Greater Noida | |Salary Group |No income |25K 40K |40K 60K |60K 75K | |Number of Respondents |30 |50 |70 | |Age Group |10 25 |25 35 |35 45 | |Number of Respondents |50 |50 |50 | DATA COLLECTION PLAN Data Gathering: This study involves data collection (primary research) from different households in four different areas Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgoan, and Noida. Literature Review The research conducted as a part of our study would include Primary as well as Secondary research. Primary research would include a survey that would be conducted in selected localities of Delhi and nearby areas where the responses of consumers would be recorded through a designed questionair.Secondary research would include various aspects of Brand management through Internet , Journals, company reports , expert views etc. METHOLODOGY The research will be carried out in the form of a survey. This will include primary research in addition to secondary research as stated below. The survey research method will be descriptive research design. Each respondent will be interviewed through a Questionnaire. The sample will be selected by a simple random sampling method. The survey will address the following information area: Information Areas: The objective as spelt out can be elaborated into specific information areas to be studied. à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ How do customers perceive Maggi as a stable brand, their perception of noodles and how do they associate themselves with Maggi? à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ Are the consumers aware of Maggi Brand or they associate noodles with some other brand? à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ Do they consider noodle as a healthy product or they are aware of the companys strategy of repositioning it to a healthy product by the launch of some of the new products? à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ Which product from the entire basket of Maggi products do the consumers consider as the best selling product for Maggi and to which the consumers frequently buy? à ¢Ã… ¾Ã‚ ¢ Are the consumers willing to accept Maggi brand extensions to some other products like chocolate, juices, chips etc? SURVEY RESULTS: 1. Brand Associations: Sources of Brand equity like brand association of Maggi as a Brand was found highest with the age group of 10-25 and the product category associated with it was the noodles category ( see exhibit 1). Consumers in the age segment of 10-25 could easily relate Maggi to noodles. In the income wise category the brand association was highest with the income group of 25k-40k were more than 40 respondents associated Maggi with noodles ( see exhibit 2). The implications from the findings discussed above seem that Maggi has good brand association in terms of noodles. Consumers presume Maggi as Noodles and the companys philosophy of projecting the brand as noodles brand seem to be viable in this regard. 2. Brand Recall: From the Exhibit 3 4 given below it seems a clear trend that Maggi has a good brand recall as compared to its competitors like Top Ramen, Surya noodles etc. Consumers could easily associate Maggi with noodles. In the Age wise category, the respondents of the age group of 25-45 were highly cautious of Maggi brand and seemed to be consuming Maggi more as compared to other age segments. In the gender wise category the companys strategy of positioning of Maggi brand for working women seems to be adaptive and gaining shape as women respondents had a brand recall more than male. 3. Brand Awareness: From the responses of the respondents in the conducted survey it was evident than Maggis Brand awareness was very high in terms of noodles were around 65 %of the respondents associated maggi as noodles and only 20 % of the respondents knew ,Maggi as a Ketchup, 9% as soup etc. The trend indicated that Maggis brand extension strategy to increase its basket has not been quite successful in other food segments .This might be because of the larger share of market captured by the competitors hence Maggi has a high potential in markets like ketchup, soups etc. 4. Repositioning Maggi as a healthy product: The companys strategy to reposition Maggi as a Healthy product was not found conducive as per the survey results. The survey showed that consumers did not perceived Maggi as a healthy product with 53% of them consumed Maggis traditional products as compared to the rest who consumed other variants of Maggis brand that were positioned as Healthy products. From the pie chart given below it can be clearly seen that Maggi is still perceived as a non healthy products by the consumers and in spite of the efforts to position Maggi as a healthy product by the company the brand is still perceived as a ready to eat food brand that has a high market share in the noodle category in India. SWOT ANALYSIS OF MAGGI BRAND The SWOT analysis of Maggi brand clearly indicates the strengths of Maggi as a Brand in Indian market. The Brand was found to be a leader in its category of Noodles, with strong customer loyalty. Intensive distribution of Maggi as a Brand was seen in urban areas of the country. The major threats of the brand as shown in the figure below indicates that Maggi has made several attempts to revamp itself as a Healthy Product but till date its perseverance towards the tag line is low by the consumers. The brand is in the growth stage of product life cycle with a strong inclination towards the maturity stage. [pic] STPD ANALYSIS OF MAGGI BRAND Segmentation: Market Segmentation divides the heterogenous market into homogenous groups of customers who share a similar set of needs/wants and could be satisfied by specific products. Maggi Brand have segmented the market on the basis of lifestyle and habits of URBAN FAMILIES. Target: Market Targeting refers to evaluating and deciding from amongst the various alternatives, which segment can be satisfied best by the company. The Maggi Brand have mainly targeted the Kids, Youth, Office Goers Working Woman which falls into the category of convenience-savvy time misers who would like to get something instant and be over with it quickly. Positioning: Market Positioning is the act of designing the companys offerings and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market. The goal of positioning is to locate the brand in the minds of consumers to maximise the potential benefit to the firm. Maggi has positioned itself in the SNACKS category and not in the meal category since Indians do not consider noodles as a proper food item. Therefore Maggi have developed its brand image of instant food products with positioning statements such as 2 minutes noodles and Easy to cook, good to eat. Differentiations: Points-of-difference (PODs) are attributes or benefits consumers strongly associate with a brand, positively evaluate and believe they could not find to the same extent with a competitive brand. The Maggi Brand have also differentiated its brand image from its competitors in terms of taste, flavours and packaging. Maggi have launched wide varieties of products in different flavours which can attract larger set of customers. Maggi products are also available in different sizes catering to different customer needs. CUSTOMER BASED BRAND EQUITY PYRAMID (CBBE) Maggis customer based brand equity pyramid seems to be equally strong on left hand side and right hand side, it is also strong from bottom to top enjoying the highest brand awareness of any fast food noodle brand in India as well as repeat purchase rate and high customer loyality. BRAND PRISM OF MAGGI CONCLUSION The food processing business in India is at a nascent stage. Currently, only about 10% of the output is processed and consumed in packaged form thus highlighting huge potential for expansion and growth. Traditionally, Indians believe in consuming fresh stuff rather then packaged or frozen, but the trend is changing and the new fast food generation is slowly changing. Riding on the success of noodles, Nestle India, tried to make extensions of the Maggi brand to a number of products like, sauces, ketchups, pickles, soups, tastemakers and macaroni in the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, the macaroni and pickles didnt pick up as expected. The soups and sauces did somewhat fine, gathering considerable sales volumes and have a satisfactory presence even today. Maggi Noodles itself faced a bit of difficulty with respect to taste, and nearly lost its position in the minds of Indian consumers in the late 1990s. When Nestle changed the formulation of its tastemaker, the ominous packet that came along with Maggi Noodles, a major chunk of consumers were put-off and sales started dropping. Also, Maggis competitor TopRamen took advantage of the situation and started a parallel aggressive campaign to eat into Maggis market share. But the company quickly realised this and went back into making the original formula coupled with a free sampling campaign. This helped Magg i to win back its lost consumers and pushed up its sales volumes again! Maggi Today The year 2008 saw India leading in world wide Maggi sales. The brand has grown to an estimated value of Rs 160-170 crore and contributes at least 8-9% to Nestle Indias top line. All the same, some FMCG analysts feel that the brand has not done much to expand the noodles category. Even after 25 years of its launch, the size of the instant noodles market is yet quite small at Rs 300 crore. But yes, the parent company, Nestle India Limited has certainly encouraged the brand to enter into other culinary products. RECOMMENDATION After the conducted study following recommendations could be sited for Maggi Brand. To gain maximum leverage in terms of profit the company should pay emphasis on segments with age groups 25-35 and above .Advertising is the key to success. Targeting these segments will not only enhance the companys profit margins but also it will leverage the brand image of Maggi. The company should advertise its products by depicting attributes related to Health like Nutrition values, % of Vitamins, Proteins etc.This would help in customers perceiving the product as Healthy. Foray into other food products like chips, chocolates etc under its sole brand name would not only help in Brand extension but will also enhance Maggis market share. FUTURE PLANS Nestlà © Indias objective is to manufacture and market the companys products in such a way so as to create value that can be sustained over the long term for consumers, shareholders, employees and business partners. Maggis aims to create value for consumers that can be sustained over the long term by offering a wide variety of high quality, safe food products at affordable prices. The company continuously focuses its efforts to better understand the changing lifestyles of modern India and anticipate consumer needs in order to provide convenience, taste, nutrition and wellness through its product offerings. LIMITATIONS: The present study is confined to a minimal sample size and may not reflect the opinion or response of the entire population in general. The results of our study are entirely confined to the responses of the Delhi consumers and might deviate in terms of actual population as a whole.Recomendations given after the study are entirely dependent on the survey and the secondary analysis done in the report.

Internet Addiction :: Expository Essays

Internet addiction is a growing problem with more and more people. The internet is much more accessible to people now than it was just a few years ago. The internet provides people with entertainment, loads of information, and an escape from everyday life, but like anything else, too much a good thing can be addictive. This paper will cover what internet addiction is, warning signs of internet addiction, problems caused by internet addiction, who develops internet addiction, preventing and treating internet addiction, and safety guidelines for internet users. In the modern world internet access is a vital part of everyday life. It is important for education, and is a necessary skill for those entering the job markets of today. The internet is highly entertaining and informative. These qualities make the internet an attractive escape from the stress of everyday life. People can enter a different world and make the problems of the real world disappear. Anything is possible on the internet. Internet addiction has the same symptoms as an addition to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or caffeine. When someone becomes addicted to the internet they will have increasing tolerance to the amount of time they spend online, withdrawal, mood changes between when online and off, and there will be an interruption of social relationships and activities. People with an addiction will need more time online to be happy. When access to the internet is not available people will show signs of anxiety, depression, irritability, trembling hands, a nd restlessness. There are five types of internet addiction. The first is Net-Gaming. People with this addiction participate in online games, Multi User Dungeon Games (MUDs), will visit virtual casinos, and my become obsessed with e-auctions and online trading and shopping. Another type of internet addiction is Cyber-Relational Addiction. People with this tend to make chat room relationships more important than their relationships with family or friends. They may even try to meet someone personally after meeting him or her online. The third type of internet addiction is Information Overload. People become obsessed with tracking down certain information and organizing it.

Principles of supporting change in a business environment Essay

You should use this file to complete your Assessment. The first thing you need to do is save a copy of this document, either onto your computer or a disk Then work through your Assessment, remembering to save your work regularly When you’ve finished, print out a copy to keep for reference Then, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your completed Assessment to your tutor via your My Study area – make sure it is clearly marked with your name, the course title and the Unit and Assessment number. Please note that this Assessment document has 3 pages and is made up of 3 Sections. Name: Section 1 – Understand why change happens in a business environment 1. Explain why change happens in a business environment. You should include at least three reasons in your answer. There are few factors which constantly pressure organizations to adapt and they force change in a business environment. We can apply here PEST acronym, it means that changes in business environment happen for political, social or technical reasons. Political changes are out of business’ control. They need to adapt to the all law changes. If not, they can even be prosecuted. Economic changes are dependable i.e. from the exchange rate due to its high influence on import and export. Economic change is also a change forced by a competition on the market. Products or services need to be competitive in price or/and quality, otherwise company will not prosper well. Social change comes from customer’s attitude and buying preferences. It can be shaped by media and big events. Technical change is forced by new technologies. To be competitive, and to be ahead of the competitors means, that company has to be up to date with modern solutions. Section 2 – Understand the purpose of supporting change in a business environment 1. Identify the main reasons for reviewing working methods, products and / or services in a business environment. Business environment is very changeable. Services or/and products have to be constantly efficient, so they have to be continuously reviewed. It ensures that company stays competitive and meets the targets. One of reasons of reviewing working methods is a change in a service/product. All related procedures need to be updated to be sufficient. Company has to make sure that all methods are updated and best possible from currently known. They has to agree with all standards. In ensures, that company is competitive and meet customers’ requirements. 2. When a business is going through change: a) Describe the different types of support that people may need. There are people, who can adapt to change really well and those, who can not. It is really important for company to make sure, that all employees feel comfortable with new changes. There are some universal ways of supporting people within a business change: Effective planning helps to avoid a chaos during the change. It shows all employees that everything was well planned and considered. Participation makes it easier to adapt. It is very important for team members to feel valued part of change. Clear communications and expectations. People have to be well informed and know what is happening, why and how things will look like after. Training or  retraining. There will be new work methods, new equipment, procedures. Employees need to receive training to be able to work effectively. Encouragement and other supportive behaviours are important for team members. Positive attitude is needed, smiling, encouragements and understanding. b) Explain the benefits of working with others. Working with others gives a wide range of different ideas and opinions. Different people will have different approaches to same problem. Different skills are brought to one project by all the team members. In time of change working with others may be really helpful, team members know each other and can help one another when it is necessary. When we do not work as a part of a team communication an relations get worse. The team is unsuccessful as well as individuals. Such a behaviour does not benefit anyone. Section 3 – Understand how to respond to change in a business environment 1. In relation to your current business environment (or one that you are familiar with): a) Explain why you should respond positively to changes in working methods. Changes happen for a reason and are unavoidable if a company wants to remain successful. It is very helpful to keep positive attitude in all this situation. Positive approach will help us to adapt faster and will influence other team members. Negative response will create difficult environment to work in by financing others in a bad way. b) Explain why you should respond positively to changes in products or services. We should respond positively to changes in products or services to positively influence and motivate others. Positive attitude helps to ensure that change is coming through smoothly and without unnecessary disruptions. c) Identify ways of responding positively to change. First positive response is recognizing the change as something positive, a possibility to gain new skills, to grow as an employee and possibly make a career progression. We should try to attend all offered trainings and motivate our colleagues to do so. We should avoid getting involved in negative conversation and try to spread a positive attitude and always look for support from other team members or a manager if we feel it is necessary.  Once you have completed all 3 Sections of this Assessment, go to www.vision2learn.com and send your work to your tutor for marking.

European Integration

Since the day of its establishment it endeavourers to create prosperity and stability for its citizens – the citizens that are directly or indirectly affected by the Ex.'s policy and its actions. The aim of this Union is a Just society with an attitude of solidarity that promises to support economic prosperity and to create vacancy by making their enterprises more competitive and providing their employers with new abilities and skills. The European Union represents the world's greatest economic power and revised great financial and technical support to poorer countries. The EX. is still in progress when it comes to its composition.There are countries that are – due to their economic situation and their attitudes – a challenge when it comes to integration into the Union. On the other hand there are countries that do not want to be a member. Norway is one of them. The reasons why Norway rejected the membership to the EX., after being asked twice, may be discussed i n the following. The essay shall provide an overview of Norway pros and cons and the reasons why they still have not Joined the EX. as member. WoosГ Kola economies a management Lecturer: Peter Hamlet 2. History The human settlement of Norway goes back at least 11000 years.The first Norwegian lived by fishing, hunting and by farming. (see Allegorists) A period which was significant for expansion is called the Viking Age. During this period, Norwegian sailed to Scotland, England, Ireland, France and also Spain. The Danes and Swedes sailed abroad, too. This is the time when Scandinavia really became a part of Europe. The Vikings were famous for: strong warriors, prisoner taking, slaves dealing, efficient merchants, craftsmen and farmers. In the Freakish Empire they were known as the Northern. This name arose, when Norway and Denmark explored this area for trade and plunder.Norway gained more and more importance in this time. In the middle ages Norwegian population increased (about 400. 000). In the eleventh century the whole country were controlled by the church, the king and the overlords and they converted to Christianity. The inhabitants felt very unhappy in the next century and there were plenty of fighting in the inside of the country, that's why it is called the Civil War Period. Followed by the â€Å"Golden Age†, the king of Norway ever owned more Lana tan ever. One Tanta AT ten population was put on eat the â€Å"Black Death†, a plague in 1349. See Multiple) Between 1396 and 1536 Norway was part of Kalmia Union. The Union was formed in 1397 in the town of Kalmia on the Swedish east coast. A relative to Queen Margaret, Erik of Pomeranian, was elected king over Denmark, Sweden and Norway (see superstring) Sweden broke away 1523, but Norway remained united with Denmark. 1814 Denmark was forced to surrender Norway to Sweden. From now on, 1905, Norway is a free country, the union with Sweden ended and decided to give Prince Carl of Denmark th e throne. During the years 1914 till 1918, First World War period, Norway stayed neutral and also in the first time of the Second World War.In the late asses the Norwegian accepted Marshall Plan and Joined the NATAL, after abandoned their past neutrality. The current king, King Hookah, died and got replaced by Loaf V and he got replaced by his son, King Herald V. , in 1991. The economic policy was very important for the postwar history for Norway. In this time economic planning was introduced and several state-owned enterprises have been established. (see Inconsiderableness) 3. Norway – An Overview 3. 1. Economical With a GAP per capita of Ð ²?64,600 in 2008 (2nd highest in the EYE after Luxembourg) and an estimated national budget surplus the Norwegian economy is very sound.Norway belongs to the leading group of the richest countries in the world measured by GAP per capita. Public finances are boosted by significant revenues from the petroleum sector. Traditional economic a ctivities are shipping (fourth largest fleet in the world), fisheries and fish farming. The oil and gas sector constitutes around 25% of the Norwegian GAP and 52% of Norwegian exports (35 times higher than the export value of fish). Norway is a very important exporter of metals. Norwegian companies are major producers of ferry-alloys and, in particular, of aluminum.Norway is the main source for the EX. of primary aluminum. 60% of our total imports AT alloys Ana AT inwrought metal relegate In Norway. Norway Is rarely anew with natural resources such as oil and gas, hydrophone, fish, Marshall Plan: The Marshall Plan, known officially following its enactment as the European Recovery Program (ERP), was the main plan of the United States for the reconstruction of Europe following World War II. The initiative was named for United States Secretary f State George Marshall. NATO: Military alliance formed between 26 nations to enforce the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949.NATO was originally form ed to combat the spread of communism, but has grown since then to provide a mutual defense from external threats. 2 1 forests and minerals and timber. Despite intensive technological and industrial developments that have taken place in Norway, natural resources still account for the bulk of Norwegian exports. The construction and operation of the largest offshore installations on earth has led to the establishment of a substantial offshore technology industry. Traditional economic activities are shipping (fourth largest fleet in the world) and fisheries, along with fish farming.Shipping represents also an important source of export revenues for Norway. In addition, Norway is one of the top three seafood-exporting nations worldwide. Around 95% of production is exported. In recent decades, Norway has been in the forefront of Western countries' growth performance. Over the last decade, Norway sustained economic expansion was underpinned by strong macro-economic policies, the commitment to low inflation and fiscal restraint, and the strategy of investing the bulk of oil revenues abroad. The adoption of inflation targeting and fiscal policy guidelines, have further strengthened the policy framework.After having experienced a cyclical downturn of its economic growth due mainly to high wages, high interest rates and a strong currency, a very tight monetary policy made Norway recover. As expected, household demand is making a considerable contribution to the cyclical upturn as well as higher petroleum investment. In the period ahead, the global upturn will also stimulate Norway exports of traditional goods. The situation for internationally exposed industries has improved, not least thanks to what appears to be a stabilization of the crone exchange rate and a moderate wage settlement. (see European Commission) 3. . Political As mentioned in the first chapter and like you can extract from the Interpreting â€Å"Encyclopedia of the Nations†, Norway followed a pol icy of strict neutrality from 1905 until 1940. In 1940, Germany invaded Norway and carried out an exacting occupation until 1945. The German occupation left behind a bitter experience. That's the reason of Norway long dominant political sentiment for neutrality and let them Join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. (see Inconsiderableness) Norway is a constitutional monarchy. In the country the head of the state enjoys not unlimited power.The monarch has the power in the direction of Starting (Applicant), he designates the chief of the government (prime Minster). The parliament has the real power. The Starting has 165 seats, split among eight parties in the elections of 2001. Elections are held every four years. The parliamentary system is not like the most, an election is not called if a government loses a vote of confidence, although the prime minister may change. Due to the large number of parties and a system of proportional representation, coalition government s are the rule in Norwegian politics.Changes of government are a relatively frequent occurrence, even by the standards of European parliamentary systems, because most governments over the past decade have been minority governments. The ability to build consensus is thus a key to success for politicians and for parties. Ideological parties tend, therefore, to be small because they are often exclusive. Women play a greater role in Norwegian politics than in any other European country. For many years, a woman, Grog Harlem Borderland of the Labor Party, dominated Norwegian politics and served intermittently as prime minister. European Integration The following paper will provide an overview on the importance of the regional union of Balkans countries before joining European Union. Initially the paper will describe the main forms of integration and the main benefit for each of them. Furthermore, the paper will explain the main barriers of political integration of the Albania, Macedonia, Kosova and Montenegro. The essay will be based in the daily political development of the region and the theory given from deferent scholars of economics and business. Regional integration principlesRegional alliances to promote liberalization trade are important features in the second half of the 20th century. Today there are close to 100 agreements although not all of them have a practical implementation. Countries are trying to integrate their economies and open to new markets for their domestic firms and lower prices for their customers. According to Lundby & Jeffrey (2010), the characteristics of most important of international business are the extent of economic integration among the member countries.The economic integration affects exporting and investment opportunities among members and non-member countries. According to Warne &Nicholas (2005), there five different economic integration like free trade area, custom union, common market, economic union and political union. Following Bennett (2002), free trade area eliminates trade barriers among member countries like the NAFTA agreements between Canada, Mexico and United state. Custom union refers to the elimination of the trading barriers among members with common external trade policies for non-member countries.The best example of the custom union is the agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. According to Gelfand, & Brett (2004), common union has the same characteristics as the custom union with the additional element the elimination of the barriers that inhibit the movement of production factors labor, capital and technology among members. Econ omic union represents full integration among countries. It includes the common union integration with additional economic policies integration among members. The best example of economic integration is the European union.The last form of integration is the political integration where countries follow a full political and economic integration. The best example of political union is the united state of America. Regional integration between Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and Macedonia. Albania has a favorable geographical position since it links the west developed Europe with the postcommunist European countries, East Europe. According to INSTAT (2009), Albanian population is close to 2. 8 million inhabitants.Neighbor countries are Montenegro with 0. 7 million inhabitants; Kosova with 1.8 million inhabitants; Macedonia with 2 million inhabitants. All these countries separately are not attractive from global companies because of their small size. According to Krishna (2005), economic integ ration or trade blocs are preferential trade agreements between numbers of countries to reduce or completely remove the barriers between members. Trade blocs increase the market power for each of the trading members. It increases productivity and companies take advantage of economies of scale. Also, it increases the competition between members of the market.Low costs will make the member countries firms more competitive in the non-member countries market. Small countries are the ones who take more advantage from the trading blocs than the large members of the agreement, by opening their product to a larger market. Companies take the decision to expand the business in foreign countries by considering the trading blocs and its main benefits. However, elimination of the trade barriers exposes the firm's home market to competition of other member and non-member countries, thus threatening the less efficient firms.A regional economic integration attracts the foreign investments from non- member countries as firms outside the bloc seek the benefits of insider status by establishing manufacturing facilities within the bloc. In order for these countries, to attract global companies and increase the foreign direct investments needs and economic integration among all countries and effectively make them one country. Integration of Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and Macedonia will create a market of 6. 2 million customers.Also, the integration will standardize the import and taxation policy toward the non-member countries by eliminating the differences among countries. According to Yoshino & Rangan (1995), economic integration and opening to new markets there are challenges like differences in culture, political and economic environment, and regulation between countries. Cultural and economic changes product customization. In case of the economic integration between Albania and its neighbor countries, there are limited cultural differences. All countries have almost the same philosophy of the living, tradition and customs.The similarities between countries will help companies to minimize their costs by using the same brand, same advertising strategy and message across markets. Furthermore, countries show similarities in the economic situation. They are all low-income countries with the same needs and resources to accommodate those needs. This situation increases the demand for fast moving goods by representing big opportunities for global companies operating in these industries. There is not much to say about legal restriction since they do not exist.Legal and regulatory framework is in favor of foreign investment in the region. Typically, each form of economic integration confers benefits on the national economy but hurts particular sectors and communities within that economy. As a result, negotiating any form of the economic integration is not easy. According to Koyuturk et al. (2012), strategic alignments within a company are production, marketing, f inancial and research and development alliances. Production alliances happen when two different companies create a joint venture to produce a common product or facility.Marketing alliances between companies consist in sharing of the marketing services or consultancies. Financial alliances consist in sharing the risk of investment with other partners. R&D alliances refer to joint research with partners for developing new product or services. The above strategic alignment can be managed through shared management agreements where all the involved parties participate in the shared agreement fully and actively. Strategic alignments will decrease the company cost but will have an issue for the employees.Therefore, sharing of some of the functional services many companies will cut their labor force. Local government should create defense policies to mitigate the risks of the integration. Also, political instability, high level of corruption and previous conflicts are the most difficult int egration barriers. The suggested form of integration that will strengthen the position of these countries in the region and drive a competitive advantage is the political integration. It relates to cooperation between states and formation of state based regime.Also, it refers to the constitution of new political entities with a certain degree of independent from the individual states. Regional integration strengthens the political system the scope and the capacity of its decision making process. Furthermore, legal integration it is closely related to the political integration and involves the establishment of common legal rules and common legal systems for citizens of different states. The disadvantages of regional integration are, to begin with that to achieve it, you must sacrifice some degree of sovereignty.This could negatively affect conflict resolution. This loss of flexibility in creating solutions to problems is a huge disadvantage. Conclusion Following the main forms of int egration the political integration is the most efficient one for the analyzed countries. Political integration of Albania, Kosova, Macedonia, and Montenegro will create new opportunities for these countries. It will increase the market power for each of the trading members and increase productivity and companies take advantage of economies of scale.Also, it increases the competition between members of the market. Lower costs for the member countries will make the member countries firms more competitive than the non-member countries market. Also, regional integration allows strategic alignments within a company in production, marketing, financial and research and development alliances. However, the political integration will strengthen the position of these countries in the region and drive a competitive advantage for the group of countries. European Integration IntroductionThe following paper will provide an overview on the importance of the regional union of Balkans countries before joining European Union. Initially the paper will describe the main forms of integration and the main benefit for each of them. Furthermore, the paper will explain the main barriers of political integration of the Albania, Macedonia, Kosova and Montenegro. The essay will be based in the daily political development of the region and the theory given from deferent scholars of economics and business.Regional integration principlesRegional alliances to promote liberalization trade are important features in the second half of the 20th century. Today there are close to 100 agreements although not all of them have a practical implementation. Countries are trying to integrate their economies and open to new markets for their domestic firms and lower prices for their customers. According to Lundby & Jeffrey (2010), the characteristics of most important of international b usiness are the extent of economic integration among the member countries. The economic integration affects exporting and investment opportunities among members and non-member countries. According to Warne &Nicholas (2005), there five different economic integration like free trade area, custom union, common market, economic union and political union.Following Bennett (2002), free trade area eliminates trade barriers among member countries like the NAFTA agreements between Canada, Mexico and United state. Custom union refers to the elimination of the trading barriers among members with common external trade policies for non-member countries. The best example of the custom union is the agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.According to Gelfand, & Brett (2004), common union has the same characteristics as the custom union with the additional element the elimination of the barriers that inhibit the movement of production factors  labor, capital and technology among members.Economic union represents full integration among countries. It includes the common union integration with additional economic policies integration among members. The best example of economic integration is the European union. The last form of integration is the political integration where countries follow a full political and economic integration. The best example of political union is the united state of America.Regional integration between Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and Macedonia. Albania has a favorable geographical position since it links the west developed Europe with the postcommunist European countries, East Europe. According to INSTAT (2009), Albanian population is close to 2.8 million inhabitants. Neighbor countries are Montenegro with 0.7 million inhabitants; Kosova with 1.8 million inhabitants; Macedonia with 2 million inhabitants. All these countries separately are not attractive from global companies because of their small size.According to Krishna (2005), eco nomic integration or trade blocs are preferential trade agreements between numbers of countries to reduce or completely remove the barriers between members. Trade blocs increase the market power for each of the trading members. It increases productivity and companies take advantage of economies of scale. Also, it increases the competition between members of the market. Low costs will make the member countries firms more competitive in the non-member countries market. Small countries are the ones who take more advantage from the trading blocs than the large members of the agreement, by opening their product to a larger market. Companies take the decision to expand the business in foreign countries by considering the trading blocs and its main benefits.However, elimination of the trade barriers exposes the firm's home market to competition of other member and non-member countries, thus threatening the less efficient firms. A regional economic integration attracts the foreign investmen ts from non-member countries as firms outside the bloc seek the benefits of insider status by establishing manufacturing facilities within the bloc. In order for these countries, to attract global companies and increase the foreign direct investments needs and economic integration among all countries and effectively make them one country.Integration of Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and Macedonia will  create a market of 6.2 million customers. Also, the integration will standardize the import and taxation policy toward the non-member countries by eliminating the differences among countries.According to Yoshino & Rangan (1995), economic integration and opening to new markets there are challenges like differences in culture, political and economic environment, and regulation between countries. Cultural and economic changes product customization. In case of the economic integration between Albania and its neighbor countries, there are limited cultural differences. All countries have alm ost the same philosophy of the living, tradition and customs. The similarities between countries will help companies to minimize their costs by using the same brand, same advertising strategy and message across markets.Furthermore, countries show similarities in the economic situation.They are all low-income countries with the same needs and resources to accommodate those needs. This situation increases the demand for fast moving goods by representing big opportunities for global companies operating in these industries. There is not much to say about legal restriction since they do not exist. Legal and regulatory framework is in favor of foreign investment in the region.Typically, each form of economic integration confers benefits on the national economy but hurts particular sectors and communities within that economy. As a result, negotiating any form of the economic integration is not easy. According to Koyuturk et al. (2012), strategic alignments within a company are production, marketing, financial and research and development alliances.Production alliances happen when two different companies create a joint venture to produce a common product or facility. Marketing alliances between companies consist in sharing of the marketing services or consultancies. Financial alliances consist in sharing the risk of investment with other partners. R&D alliances refer to joint research with partners for developing new product or services. The above strategic alignment can be managed through shared management agreements where all the involved parties participate in the shared agreement fully and actively.Strategic alignments will decrease the company cost but will have an issue for the employees. Therefore, sharing of some of the functional services many companies will cut their labor force. Local government should create defense policies to mitigate the risks of the integration.Also, political  instability, high level of corruption and previous conflicts are the most difficult integration barriers.The suggested form of integration that will strengthen the position of these countries in the region and drive a competitive advantage is the political integration. It relates to cooperation between states and formation of state based regime. Also, it refers to the constitution of new political entities with a certain degree of independent from the individual states.Regional integration strengthens the political system the scope and the capacity of its decision making process. Furthermore, legal integration it is closely related to the political integration and involves the establishment of common legal rules and common legal systems for citizens of different states. The disadvantages of regional integration are, to begin with that to achieve it, you must sacrifice some degree of sovereignty. This could negatively affect conflict resolution. This loss of flexibility in creating solutions to problems is a huge disadvantage.ConclusionFollowing the main forms of integration the political integration is the most efficient one for the analyzed countries. Political integration of Albania, Kosova, Macedonia, and Montenegro will create new opportunities for these countries. It will increase the market power for each of the trading members and increase productivity and companies take advantage of economies of scale. Also, it increases the competition between members of the market.Lower costs for the member countries will make the member countries firms more competitive than the non-member countries market. Also, regional integration allows strategic alignments within a company in production, marketing, financial and research and development alliances. However, the political integration will strengthen the position of these countries in the region and drive a competitive advantage for the group of countries.

PETSTEL analysis of India

PETSTEL analysis of India Free Online Research Papers In this research paper I am talking about India. What challenges they face and what they have been doing. I am using a PETSTEL analysis to give you an idea what you will be facing if you want to start an International business relationship with India. â€Å"PESTEL analysis: Examines the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, (physical) environmental and legal forces within which businesses operate and which act on them. Originally designed as a business environmental scan, the PEST or PESTLE analysis is an analysis of the external macro environment (big picture) in which a business operates. These are often factors which are beyond the control or influence of a business, however are important to be aware of when doing product development, business or strategy planning.† (http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/PEST+analysis.html) POLITICAL â€Å"Those who wish to weaken our unity and hurt our nation should remember that India has always endured and emerged stronger. The force of history is on our side,† (Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Sing) India’s biggest challenge, as always, is to uphold the constitution of India. The main challenge before India is to pursue these goals ruthlessly.India is currently in the middle of a global financial crisis, a time of IT downturn, job losses, loss of revenues for big companies and many other accompanied problems. In this situation, Indian government must make an extra effort to restore confidence among the people. I favor a little government intervention in free market economy particularly because India is a growing economic power and they must cover all the loopholes and must move cautiously. India’s growing middle class and also lower middle class people must also maintain seriousness in these difficult times. They must remember that this is a passing phase in the life of India. Terror attacks have become almost a monthly occurrence. In the New Year, situation is not likely to change. However, better intelligence can reduce the number of terror attacks. Indian public must not fear. They should not let the terrorist win. A message must be sent out that Indian people will never change their way of life just because of terrorism. New and improved measures to fight corruption and poverty must be undertaken. Fighting poverty should be our biggest priority. Protection and upliftment of the weaker sections of society particularly the economically backward classes including the minorities must be one of our top priorities in 2009. Democracy, secularism and an independent foreign policy must be the focus of India in 2009. ECONOMY â€Å"In order to achieve this, we need to focus on achieving rapid economic growth and on ensuring social justice. It is only by walking on these two legs will we be able to ensure that the benefits of growth reach all sections of society.† (Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Sing) Challenges before Indian economy: Population explosion: This monster is eating up into the success of India. According to 2001 census of India, population of India in 2001 was 1,028,610,328, growing at a rate of 2.11% approx. Such a vast population puts lots of stress on economic infrastructure of the nation. Thus India has to control its burgeoning population. Poverty: As per records of National Planning Commission, 36% of the Indian population was living Below Poverty Line in 1993-94. Though this figure has decreased in recent times but some major steps are needed to be taken to eliminate poverty from India. Unemployment: The increasing population is pressing hard on economic resources as well as job opportunities. Indian government has started various schemes such as Jawahar Rozgar Yojna and Self Employment Scheme for Educated Unemployed Youth (SEEUY). But these are proving to be a drop in an ocean. Rural urban divide: It is said that India lies in villages, even today when there is lots of talk going about migration to cities, 70% of the Indian population still lives in villages. There is a very stark difference in pace of rural and urban growth. Unless there isnt a balanced development Indian economy cannot grow. These challenges can be overcome by the sustained and planned economic reforms. These include: Maintaining fiscal discipline Orientation of public expenditure towards sectors in which India is faring badly such as health and education. Introduction of reforms in labor laws to generate more employment opportunities for the growing population of India. Reorganization of agricultural sector, introduction of new technology, reducing agricultures dependence on monsoon by developing means of irrigation. Introduction of financial reforms including privatization of some public sector banks. SOCIO ECONOMIC The socio-economic problem of India is well affecting the business climate of India at global forums too. It is worth mentioning in this regard that this year, India slipped to 48thposition in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index and to 31st position in Business Competitiveness Index. Point to be noted here is that these rankings are largely affected by the socio-economic parameters such as sustainable national prosperity and the political and social context of the nation. Sustainable national prosperity is calculated by taking into account the per capita GDP. In my opinion, intensive usage of technology, its generation and the incidence of technology transfer to India is worth appreciating but the penetration and implementation of the latest technologies are still quite low when you compare it with international standards. No one will argue with the fact that this low penetration had led to low levels of per capita income, which eventually degrade India’s rank at the global forum. Apart from that, Indian government had failed drastically in minimizing the public sector deficit. By the way, public sector deficit of India is one of the highest in the world. In addition, there is corruption in infrastructural development. According to experts, poor infrastructure, erratic power supply, inefficient bureaucracy, corruption, tax regulations and bad roads are major hurdles for upcoming entrepreneurs and also demotivate them in starting their business units. The pivotal factor here is that these rankings not only degrades India’s image at global business forums but also abstain new entrepreneurial start-ups. All in all, one can safely say that development of India cannot fructify on discreet policies, but actually on a centralized policies covering both social and economical aspects. After all, without society can business thrive? Technological Information Technology in India accounts for a substantial part of the countrys GDP and export earnings while providing employment to a significant number of its tertiary sector workforce. Technically proficient immigrants from India sought jobs in the western world from the 1950s onwards as Indias education system produced more engineers than its industry could absorb. Indias growing stature in the information age enabled it to form close ties with both the United States of America and the European Union. Out of 400,000 engineers produced per year in the country, 100,000 possessed both technical competency and language skills. India developed a number of outsourcing companies specializing in customer support via Internet or telephone connections. By 2008, India also has a total of 49,750,000 telephone lines in use, a total of 233,620,000 mobile phone connections, a total of 60,000,000 Internet users, comprising 6.0% of the countrys population, and 4,010,000 people in the country have access to broadband, making it the 18th largest country in the world in terms of broadband Internet users. Total fixed-line and wireless subscribers reached 325.78 million as of June, 2008. Environmental With India’s exponential growth comes the exponential need for energy. Demand for electricity has far outstripped supply, and now, with the coming of the Electricity Act 2003, these demands are within reach. The government’s plan of â€Å"power for all† will require an additional capacity creation of nearly 100,000 MW by 2012. And, it seems, that India has made steps in this regard with two new successful bids for ultra-mega power projects (UMPPs) in Sasan and Mundra and the recent January 2006 nod to set up nine coal-based UMPPS of 4,000MW each. The competitive bidding process has fomented effective reforms in the energy sector and the benefits are two-fold: 1. The Indian government shifts from closed-door negotiations of the past to more transparent operations. 2. India procures power at cost-effective rates. However, the new policy to promote UMPP coal-fired power will have adverse effects on climate change and the environment. While the competitive bidding process is an important step forward, more needs to be done in terms of including environmental considerations in energy policies. LEGAL There is a single hierarchy of courts in India. Much of contemporary Indian law shows substantial European and American influence. Various acts and ordinances first introduced by the British are still in effect in modified form today. During the drafting of the Indian Constitution, laws from Ireland, the United States, Britain, and France were all synthesized to get a refined set of Indian laws as it currently stands. Indian laws also adhere to the United Nations guidelines on human rights law and environmental law. Certain international trade laws, such as those on intellectual property, are also enforced in India. Each state drafts it own laws, however all the states have more or less the same laws. Laws directed by the central government and the Supreme Court of India via judicial precedent or general policy directives are binding on all citizens of each state. Each state has its own labor laws and taxation rates. Indias judicial system is made up of the Supreme Court of India at the apex of the hierarchy for the entire country and twenty-one High Courts at the top of the hierarchy in each State. These courts have jurisdiction over a state, a union territory or a group of states and union territories. Below the High Courts are a hierarchy of subordinate courts such as the civil courts, family courts, criminal courts and various other district courts. The High Courts are the principal civil courts of original jurisdiction in the state, and can try all offences including those punishable with death. However, the bulk of the work of most High Courts consists of Appeals from lowers courts and writ petitions in terms of Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The precise jurisdiction of each High Court varies. Each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a District and Sessions Judge. He is known as a District Judge when he presides over a civil case and a Sessions Judge when he presides over a criminal case. He is the highest judicial authority below a High Court judge. Below him, there are courts of civil jurisdiction, known by different names in different states. REFERENCES This sites I mention below are the sites I visited during may: CNN International News. URL: cnn.com/WORLD The Economist Country Briefings. URL: economist.com/countries Human Rights Watch. URL: hrw.org Political Reference Almanac Online. URL: polisci.com/almanac/nations.htm United States Department of Energy, Country Analysis Briefs. URL: eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/contents.html Trade Policy Reviews by the World Trade Organization . URL: wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp_rep_e.htm#bycountry Eldis Country Profiles. 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